A last-minute solution to avoid the year-end tax increases and spending cuts called the fiscal cliff, if there is to be one, seems likely only if these two tacticians come up with one. Neither is an inspiring orator nor grand strategist in the classic Senate tradition, but each is a clever tactician. And avoiding the cliff now is all about tactical maneuvering to get some minimalist package through Congress.

Don’t pay too much attention to what these two say publicly right now, or to a lack of public commentary from them. Mr. Reid was on the Senate floor Thursday morning as his chamber reconvened, but much of what he said was partisan bluster.

The ticket to a solution now is a small-bore bill that does the minimum necessary to prevent wholesale tax increases and broad-based spending cuts, and if such a plan emerges it likely will pop out without a lot of advance advertising from the Senate leadership. That’s what happened during the 2011 near-crisis over raising the nation’s debt ceiling; the White House and the House were largely observers.

2. How could such a down-and-dirty fix be enacted?

The most logical way to get something done quickly would be for Sen. Reid to take a bill the House passed a while back, which extended current tax rates for everybody; adjust it to reflect Democrats’ wishes to extend current rates only for families making less than $250,000 a year and allowing rates to rise for others; jam in some other eleventh-hour fixes such as extending exemptions to the Alternative Minimum Tax and continuing expanded unemployment insurance benefits; pass it in the Senate, and then send it back to the House.

One uncertainty in this scenario is whether Mr. McConnell would stand aside and let such a bill hit the Senate floor without objections or tactics to stall it. The benefit of the plan for Republicans is that they wouldn’t have to do anything proactively to let it move forward except stand aside and allow it to proceed. And they wouldn’t actually have to vote to raise anybody’s tax rates. They’d vote only to keep rates at current rates for most people, and rates on wealthier Americans would simply rise automatically.

3. How many Republicans in the Senate would go along with such a half-measure, and could House Speaker John Boehner get a majority of his Republican caucus to vote for it?

The question is relevant because the only way a last-minute fix could pass both chambers is with some combination of Democratic and Republican votes. Democrats likely would have to provide the bulk of the votes in the Senate and a healthy chunk of them in the House.

That would produce an odd case of shotgun-marriage bipartisanship in Washington. On the other hand, it may be that what the two parties really agree on at this point is that they’d rather go over the cliff, prove their points, wait for Mr. Boehner to be re-elected House Speaker Jan. 3 and then try again.

By then, tax rates will have gone up and spending cuts will have kicked in. At that point, the two parties then could negotiate ways to cut taxes and increase spending from their post-cliff levels. And cutting taxes and raising spending are activities Washington always finds more satisfying anyway.

For critical perspectives on politics and the economy from Jerry Seib & David Wessel, visit Seib & Wessel.

About Washington Wire

Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.